SC Johnson holds talks for global PR account

WISCONSIN, US: Global home products giant SC Johnson – the maker of well-known brands such as Pledge, Vanish and Mr Muscle – is in talks with PR networks for a global public affairs, corporate comms and media relations brief.

‘As part of our routine business practice, SC Johnson is currently reviewing public affairs agency capabilities,’ said SC Johnson V-P of global public affairs and communications Kelly Semrau in a statement. ‘As a privately held company, this evaluation process will remain confidential.’

The account is believed to be worth somewhere in the region of £350,000.

The review comes a week after it emerged that William Perez, the company’s president and CEO since 1996, is to become chief executive of Nike at the end of the year. SC Johnson has named Dr H Fisk Johnson as his replacement, the fifth generation of the family to lead the firm.

Burson-Marsteller and Ogilvy PR are understood to be in the frame for the account.

Weber Shandwick has worked for SC Johnson in New York in recent years.

The firm has stepped up its activity for CSR and environmental issues in recent years. It set specific goals in 1990 and 1995 to reduce pollution and waste in its products and processes and has continually reformulated its products and packaging as environmental awareness develops.

It opened its first international subsidiary in the UK in 1914 and now operates in 65 markets with products sold in more than 100 countries.